A short post-harvest longevity remains a major limiting factor for many crops. Separation from plant leads quickly to ripening of fruits and senescence of flowers. In many species, ripening and senescence are ethyleneregulated. Thus, attempts have been made to retard the post-harvest processes by applying chemicals that inhibit ethylene synthesis. The long-term solution will probably be based o...

Senescence of floral organs is broadly divided into two groups: those that exhibit sensitivity to exogenous ethylene and those that do not. Endogenous ethylene production from the former group is via a well-characterized biochemical pathway and is either due to developmental or pollination-induced senescence. Many flowers from the order Liliales are characterized as ethylene-insensitive since t...

Climate change affects the abundance, distribution and activity of natural enemies that are important for suppressing herbivore crop pests. Moreover, higher mean temperatures and increased frequency of climatic extremes are expected to induce different responses across trophic levels, potentially disrupting predator-prey interactions. Using field observations, we examined the response of an aph...

During the vase life of cut stems obstruction of xylem vessels occurs due to microbial growth, formation of tyloses, deposition of materials in the lumen of xylem vessels and the presence of air emboli in the vascular system. Such obstructions may restrict water uptake and its transport towards upwards thus lowering their ornamental value and longevity of cut flowers. Clematis is a very attract...

Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) production relies on insect-mediated pollination, which is provided by managed and wild pollinators. The goals of this study were to measure the visitation frequency, longevity and temporal activity patterns of pumpkin pollinators and to determine if local habitat management and landscape composition affected this pollination service. We used video surveillance to monit...

The purpose of this review was to examine sport officials’ motivation and passion to become and remain a referee in today’s sport climate. There are endless accounts of misconduct towards officials from participants, coaches, parents and fans. This review examined the research evidence that explained why officials continue to work in their sport and tried to determine what motivations were fact...

Abscisic acid hastened senescence of carnation flowers and this was preceded by stimulation of accelerated ethylene production. Carbon dioxide delayed the onset of autocatalytic ethylene production in flowers regardless of treatment with abscisic acid. Flowers exhibited a low and transient climacteric of ethylene production without wilting while in 4% carbon dioxide and underwent accelerated et...

Orius sauteri (Poppius; Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) is an important predator of western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande; Thysanoptera: Thripidae). O. sauteri would be directly exposed to the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) Vuillemin in the field should the fungus be used as a biopesticide. If the fungus were to negatively affect O. sauteri in agro-ecosystems,...